Children of Hecate
by hyacinthadeaks
Summary: Harry Potter arrives much earlier at the train station and meets Hermione, they become friends. However, they find out they have been blessed by a special lady, who is this lady and what does 'being blessed' mean? Harry and friends travel through their Hogwarts years with many challenges, but can they defeat Voldemort? H/Hr/maybe more. NL/LL. Not a crossover with Percy Jackson.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Harry Potter arrived at the train station early, not just a little early, hours early. His cousin, Dudley, had to remove the pig tail that Hagrid had given to him, he needed to be there early so they could administer him anaesthetic to safely remove it. So here Harry was, at 8:00am, waiting three hours until the train arrived, he didn't even know how to get onto the platform. Although, he did have three hours with which he could figure it out. It must be something similar to what Hagrid did to open the entrance to Diagon Alley. Except, they were meant to keep it all a secret and he knew that most of the people here did not know about magic, so he couldn't draw his wand out.

One hour had gone past and he still had not figured it out, although, even if he had, no one else was around platform nine and ten. Until a girl with bushy brown hair came out and almost dragged her parents to the wall between the platforms. She was jumping up and down and then her chocolate brown eyes caught his and she rushed over to him.

"Hi, I'm Hermione. I'm new to Hogwarts. Who are you?" the girl said.

"Um, I'm Harry, also new, never knew anything about it." He said uncertainly and the girl continued jumping.

"Do you know how to get onto the train?" she asked. "It seemed the person who told me about this world didn't mention that part."

"I'm sorry, I don't know either. I was trying to find the entrance, I tried for an hour but couldn't find it." Harry said disappointed.

"Oh no. Now I'll never get to Hogwarts." She said as her body slumped. "Wait a minute." She said and turned to face him. "You've already tried for an hour? Where were your parents?"

"My parents died when I was young, I don't even remember them." Harry said in a defeating tone and then Hermione surprised him by hugging him.

"Can we be friends?" she asked him.

"I've never had friends before." Harry said.

"Neither have I, but I think I want you as my friend." Hermione almost yelled as her jumping started again.

"Okay. I'll be your friend. Do you want to sit with me when we get on the train?" Harry asked.

"I would love to, Harry. Would you like to meet my parents?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded.

"Mama and Daddy, this is my new friend, Harry, um, I don't know his last name." Hermione said and then turned to Harry, "What is your last name?"

"Potter, my name is Harry Potter." Harry said.

"Harry Potter." Hermione introduced to her parents.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Harry. My name is Rose Granger." Mrs Granger said nicely.

"And my name is David Granger, young Harry." Mr Granger said as well. "I cannot believe that that school did not tell us how to enter the platform." He continued.

"It is nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Granger." Harry said timidly and Mrs Granger smiled at the young boy.

It was now 10:00 another hour before the train was scheduled to leave and people started showing up. Harry and Hermione asked an older person how to get onto the platform. She had bright pink hair and a large grin.

"Didn't anyone tell you how to get onto the platform?" she asked and they both shook their heads. "Well, okay, I will show you, but you have to introduce yourselves first." She said and smile reassuringly at the two shy first years.

"Ok, I'm Hermione Granger, I am a muggle-born." Hermione said, her eyes looking down at her feet.

"And you?" Tonks asked Harry.

"Harry Potter." He said shyly.

"Wait, Harry Potter? We used to know each other. I knew your parents, I used to hold you when you were a baby. It's good to meet you again, Harry. I am Nymphadora Tonks, most either call me Tonks or Dora. All you have to do to get through the wall is to run straight at the wall and you will magically appear on the other side." She said, "Unfortunately, it only takes people across with a magical signature, so your parents can't come through, Hermione, I'm really sorry."

Hermione looked sad, so did her parents. "It is okay, sweetie, make sure you write to us, and often, alright, we will miss you and see you at Christmas." Mrs Granger said and then she and Mr Granger hugged Hermione.

"Good luck, my princess." Mr Granger whispered into her ear.

"Goodbye Harry, it was nice meeting you." Mrs Granger told Harry and then hugged him also.

They both stayed and watched Harry and Hermione going through the wall. As Harry was chivalrous, he went through first, just to make sure it wasn't a solid wall. He passed through easily and a few seconds later, Hermione also appeared and smiled at him. "Shall we find a compartment?" she asked loudly over the noise and he nodded at her.

They both boarded the train and had trouble with their trunks until Dora appeared again and charmed them to make them feather-light and helped them find an empty compartment and loaded their trunks for them. They thanked her and she mock bowed and left to find her own friends. They sat down and began to talk about how they found out that they were really magical, their expectations and what they did to prepare for their classes. They found out that they had both read the entire set of books and started to experiment with some spells in their first year book.

They were chatting away, becoming fast friends when a young girl interrupted, she had long white blonde hair and startling blue eyes. "Um, excuse me, do you mind if I sat with you. It isn't that everywhere else is full, it's just, you seem to be my age and I would love to finally make friends." The blonde said.

"Sure, that's fine." Harry said. "I'm Harry Potter and this is Hermione Granger."

"I'm Luna Lovegood, I only just made it to Hogwarts this year. For I was born at 11:43pm August the 31st. Any later and I would have had to wait another year. "

"We share a birthday." Hermione said excitedly. "I was also born August the 31st and was nearly too late as well."

"I am very glad we met then. Sharing a birthday is very special." Luna said.

"Well then, happy birthday to the both of you. Sorry I missed it, but I didn't know you then." Harry said and both the girls erupted into the laughter and Harry looked smug until once more the door opened again and revealed a young boy, their age with flaming red hair and brown eyes.

"Hi, do you mind if I sit here?" He asked, "Everywhere else is full." Then before any of them could answer he sat down. This made all three of them angry, it wasn't that he chose to sit here, it was the way he did it. He lied to them about there being no empty compartments, when a minute ago Luna said there were empty carriages and then before waiting for their reply, he just sat down. What really did it, were the insults.

"Ew, does Looney have to be here?" he asked, giving Luna a funny look.

"Her name is Luna, not Looney and she was here before you were." Hermione said which made Luna look surprised and thankful.

"And who are you?" the boy asked, "Why are you here?"

"Again, she was here before you were, in fact, I met her early this morning." Harry said, unaware why this boy was picking on his only two friends.

"What is even your name? You never introduced yourself." Hermione added.

"I am Ronald Weasley, youngest son of seven." He aid smugly.

"I am Hermione Granger." Hermione said with dislike.

"And I am Harry Potter." Harry said and Ron rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Everyone knows who you are, Harry, you are pretty famous." Ron said, "Do you remember what happened at all? Any memories?"

"Any memories of what?" Harry asked.

"You know, the night he did it?" Ron said.

"No, I was only a child at the time, only fifteen months old, I have no memories what-so-ever." Harry said and wanted to stop talking about it at once but Ron continued.

"Can I see your scar?" Ron asked and Harry covered his fringe to cover the scar, he was very self-conscious about that scar, he hated it ever since he learnt what caused it.

"No." Harry said firmly and started paying attention to Hermione and Luna.

After 10 minutes another boy entered the carriage. "Um, Hi, my name is Neville Longbottom…" He started to say before he was interrupted very rudely by Ron.

"Pfft, Bottom." He said before giggling like a school girl.

"You probably don't remember me, Harry, after all, I don't remember you, but I have pictures. You see, we should have been raised as brothers. My mum and your mum were best friends, your mum was my godmother and my mum was your godmother. I am sorry because of the war that this did not happen, but, today, I would like to ask you if we can be friends." Neville said.

Harry did not know how to reply. "Neville, I never knew this, but I can see from your eyes that this is the truth. Would you like to sit with us? We could get to know one another again and, someday, be brothers like we were meant to be."

"I would very much like that, Harry. Can I give you this picture? It is of our mothers and us." Neville said and handed Harry the picture of the two mums sitting happily on the couch, each holding their own child. And for the first time, Harry was looking at a picture of his mum.

"Thank you Neville, this means so much to me." Harry said, trying to wipe some escapee tears.

The train journey continued and the group chatted away, learning more and more about each other. Around lunch time the Trolley Lady came to visit their compartment.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked sweetly. Harry and Hermione had never tried Wizarding sweets before, but were reluctant to buy something and Ron was complaining about his sandwich which was lovingly packed by his mother. Hermione also had a packed lunch which she decided she would eat, but Harry had nothing and bought himself a pumpkin pasty, and some chocolate frogs to discreetly share.

Ron started moaning that Harry didn't buy anything to share but stopped when Harry snapped back. "I am not your mother, Ron, why should I spend my money for something to share, when everyone else already brought something to eat. And I did buy chocolate frogs to share."

Ron looked at the twenty-or-so frogs. "That's for sharing, I thought you were going to eat them all yourself."

"Yes, they are for sharing. Every person gets four frogs each, and I think that is plenty." Harry said and Ron regretfully bit into his sandwich and by the time all the frogs were gone, Ron still wasn't full, but regretfully there was no other food that he could eat, he had tried to get extra, he asked if anyone wanted to eat all of their frogs, normally people just give him something to make him stop talking, but in this case they wouldn't. They wouldn't give him their frogs, they wouldn't give him their meals their parents had packed, all in all, Ron was feeling miserable.

The rest of the train journey passed by without anything special. Harry was getting to know his new friends, Ron was being annoying and complaining about everything, when the sun started to go down, they decided they should change into their school robes. They each turned their back to one another and started stripping down to underclothes. Ron was complaining that he had to strip in front of two females, they told him to go somewhere else. Within five minutes, they were all changed and presentable for Hogwarts.

Suddenly, the train arrived in Hogsmeade station and all the first years were very excited, they quickly got off the train and were told to leave their luggage behind. Suddenly, they were nervous, they didn't know where to go until a large man started yelling, "Firs' years, firs' years, common now, follow me." It was Hagrid, the giant of a man was walking through the platform yelling and was accumulating quite a number of first years running behind him to catch up. When he counted them all and determined that they were all there, he headed for the giant lake. "No more'n four to a boat." He yelled loud enough for everyone to hear him. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna scrambled to fill a boat so Ron couldn't get in. So he reluctantly had to share with a sandy-haired boy, a dark-haired boy and a boy with hair the colour of lemons.

They sailed across the lake and came around a bend and everyone oo-ed and aa-ed as they saw Hogwarts for the very first time. A very large castle glistening in the dark, its lights flickering like candle-light. It was the largest castle Harry had ever seen. Hagrid got out of the boats and ushered for the students to do the same, he then walked towards the large doors and banged. The doors opened and revealed a very strict-looking witch.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

"Good Evening Hagrid. I hope they are all alright." The witch said.

"Got everyone alright, I checked the boats, nothing missing or lost." Hagrid said.

"Very well Hagrid, you should get yourself to the feast, I shall take over now." She replied and Hagrid nodded his head and walked right past her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall and I teach transfiguration. I am about to take you into the Great Hall to be sorted. There are four houses which you could align yourself with; first is Slytherin, a house for the cunning and ambitious; next is Ravenclaw, for the smart and curious; then there is Hufflepuff, a house for Loyalty; and finally is Gryffindor, a house for the chivalrous and brave. Whilst you are in Hogwarts, these houses will be something like your families. We also have a House Point scheme, win points if you answer a question, or lose points if you are doing something you should not be. At the end of the year, the points are tallied and the house with the most points wins the House Cup. I am now going to invite you inside and you will wait in the entrance hall whilst I go tell the hall. Good luck." And with that the witch turned and left and the group nervously waited in the front entrance.

They tried to catch up amongst themselves but it was no use, soon, people were stating that they would have to fight trolls to determine what houses they were in. Harry thought that this seemed ridiculous, fighting trolls at eleven years old. The group of four friends stayed huddled together and talked quietly, all hoping that they would be in a house with their three new friends.

Within time, Professor McGonagall came back. "They are ready for you now." She said and led them into the Great Hall. They were all amazed by the ceiling, floating candle lights before what looked like the night sky, but as Hermione pointed out, it was only bewitched. They nervously made a group at the front of the hall facing a wooden stool and a very old, musty hat. Every person in the hall seemed to look at the hat in excitement and before long, it started to sing.

After it had finished, they were to be called in alphabetical order and try on the hat. Professor McGonagall called the first person, "Bones, Susan." She called a girl with fiery red hair stepped to the stool. Every first year tuned out, thinking about what house they would be in. Harry had no idea, he didn't think he fit any of the houses, he wasn't brave or noble, or cunning, or loyal, or smart, he just didn't know where he could go. Finally Professor McGonagall called out the first of their group. "Granger, Hermione." She called and Hermione trembled her way up to the stairs and let Professor McGonagall put the hat on her.

"Mm, I see, very intelligent, very intelligent. Brave also. Also very ambitious. Ah, I see something, you were blessed by the Lady herself, you are going to be very powerful. Oh, I see, friends, you want to be with them, you've never had friends before, and you were very brave in that situation. I don't think you truly belong in Gryffindor, any person can be brave. But, it is the house that the two young men that you befriended will surely be in. You are a Gryffindor, and yet you are not. Mm, which to choose, which to choose. Do you have a choice, my dear?" The hat said.

"Um," Hermione thought. "Well, I know that I can be smart without Ravenclaw, but I don't think I'll make friends there, I'd rather go with my friends, even if any idiot can be brave."

"Well put, my dear. Yes, you will need those friends in the coming months and years, no doubt. Listen to what they say, for they love you. You will be friends for the rest of your lives. And you need those friends, so now that is decided, better be GRYFFINDOR." The hat yelled the last word and Hermione skipped to the appropriate table.

"Longbottom, Neville" Professor McGonagall called next and Neville slowly walked to the chair, he was visibly shaking and Ron was laughing about his last name.

"Ah, the next of the friends, Neville, yes. You have been very brave in your lifetime, very brave to face what you have faced. Many people don't believe that, but you have been. Now, I have something I want to say to you, the wand chooses the wizard. Your wand is your father's, it is not an accurate fit for you, you need to buy a new wand and you will find that magic will come a lot easier. You are not a squib, Neville, its time you stopped believing that, you were blessed by the Lady herself, you will be a very powerful wizard. Now, you would fit well in Hufflepuff, you are a very loyal person, but I think you would do best in Gryffindor, your friends are there, but you will meet more friends in Hufflepuff, in the coming years, do not forget that. I think what is best for you, is to be placed into GRYFFINDOR" the Hat said and Neville took his time placing the hat back on the stool and walking to the table to sit next to Hermione.

"Lovegood, Luna" Professor McGonagall said and Luna walked to the stool and placed the hat on her head.

"Ah, Miss Lovegood, another of the friends. Keep those friends, Luna, you will need them, you can confide in them, they have experienced what you have, you have people that understand. Now, you are very smart, and can see what no one else can, this makes you much smarter than the average Ravenclaw, in fact, I'd place you at the top of the list. But, I don't think Ravenclaw would be a good match for you, not at all. People are trivial children there, you would be bullied and tormented viciously, more vicious than any Slytherin. The best fit for you would be with your friends, they will protect you and it may surprise you to learn that more friends are on the way, friends from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and even Slithering. Miss Lovegood, you were also personally blessed by the Lady, you are a powerful witch. I think the best fit for you would be GRYFFINDOR." The Hat called and Luna ran to sit next to Hermione.

"Potter, Harry." Professor McGonagall said and the hall erupted into whispers, Harry hated this, ever since he came to the Wizarding world, whispers and rumours followed him everywhere, he had grown up invisible, and he liked it that way. He quickly got up to the stool and Professor McGonagall laced the hat on him.

"Ah, Harry Potter, destined for a livelihood of brave acts, but any idiot can be brave and heroic, as your friend, Miss Granger, put it. You would do well in several houses. Slytherin, most definitely, you have cunning about you, and you are ambitious, but not sure in what yet. You are very loyal, to your friends and superiors, be cautious, not all superiors are worth the loyalty you show, you may be surprised who you can trust. You are also very smart, you would do well as a Ravenclaw, you need to start showing that smartness, and I know that you had to hide it, but people will ask questions now, you are very much like both your parents, very smart. However, I think you need to be with the friends you made. Remember this, the Headmaster has no interest of your best interest. There is a prophecy that he will use to manipulate you, he plans to kill you and make himself the hero. He is foolhardy and is not seeing the whole picture. Other people you can trust, Minerva, I mean Professor McGonagall is very trust worthy. You are also blessed by the Lady, this means you are much more powerful than the average witch or wizard, use this to your advantage. Learn what your father learnt, this will be a great advantage when the war begins again. Get private tutors for defence and potions, start arithmancy and runes earlier than third year, and get some lessons in etiquette, you will need it. Also, look into emancipation, it will become very useful. But, enough with the chat, I decided what house you would be as soon as you put me on your head. GRYFFINDOR." The Hat said. Harry sighed with relief and joined his three friends at the Gryffindor table with a much louder applause from the table than the other first-year Gryffindor's.

The feast was amazing, the food just appeared on the table and then disappeared when they were all done. Harry found himself to be very hungry, the pumpkin pasty and handful of frogs was hours ago, he knew his other three friends were as well. Ron's mum had packed him four sandwiches, he had four chocolate frogs and tried to get more and had more food than anyone else and he still heaped food onto his plate. Watching him eat was disgusting. He chewed with his mouth open and spat particles of food everywhere, everyone subconsciously moved away from him whilst he was eating, no one wanted to see or hear that. He also tried to talk to people while he was eating, he would turn to that person and shower them with food. His brother, Percy looked disgusted by his table manners, and Fred and George didn't look so happy with it either.

When the dessert menu had been cleared away, Professor Dumbledore said a few words. "Welcome, welcome to another year at the majestic, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I welcome new members to our wondrous school and say 'hello old friends' to the returning students. I know that we are all excited at the start of a new school year, tremendously so. However, we have to remember the rules, for there are severe punishments if these rules are not followed. Firstly, The Forbidden Forest is FORBIDDEN, like its name suggests, returning students, please do not set foot on the grounds of the Forbidden Forest, it is very dangerous. New students, also please note that the Forbidden Forest is full of creatures that not many wizards can control, in fact not any wizards can control some of them. Please see reason and do not step into that place. Next, Mr Filch would like me to tell you that some 934 items are forbidden from this school, these include Fanged Frisbees and items from Zonko's Joke shop, if you would like to see the full list, please consult Mr Filch in his office, thank you very much. On a much darker note, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds for any who do not wish to die a very painful death." Even though Dumbledore said a darker note, his voice was still bright and cheerful, Harry thought the hat was right about him and would be very cautious. "Now, first years and years above, your timetables will be delivered tomorrow morning at breakfast. Now, off to bed for all of you, you all have a very large day ahead of you. Goodnight and sleep tight."

Harry and his friends got up and followed Percy the Prefect to their common room where a very large portrait of a large lady with a pink dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis." Percy said and the portrait swung open to reveal a small hole where they had to crawl to get through. Once they all had crawled through they entered the Common Room and Percy showed them around.

"Right, boy's dormitories to the right and girls to the left. Have a nice night." Percy said and then walked up the stairs to his own dorm.

"Wait, what if we have questions." Hermione called after him.

"What questions would we have, he showed us where our dorms are." Ron said in a feisty tone.

"What about when breakfast is, when our classes start? All of that stuff, we need to know from someone." Hermione hit back but Ron just rolled his eyes and went to claim his bed.

"We need to talk." Harry whispered when Seamus, Dean, Lavender and Parvati wanted to go to bed also.

"What about?" Neville asked.

"The hat, it said some things to me, and I think it said some things to you as well." Harry replied and Neville nodded.

"Harry, I know that you need to talk about this. I think we all do, I know the hat said some things to me as well. But, can we do this in the morning? I'm very tired and we have lessons tomorrow. We'll have to get up early because we don't know what time breakfast is, we need to ask one of the older kids. If we get up earlier than expected, can we talk about it then?" Hermione replied.

"Good idea, Hermione, my head is fuzzy anyway, tomorrow then. I'll see you all then." They hugged goodbye and headed to their own dormitories where their luggage was. The elves had determined from friendships who would like to sleep near the other. Harry and Neville had one side of the room, Dean and Seamus had the other and Ron's bed stuck on the end wall by itself.

Hermione and Luna's room was similar, their two beds were together and so was Parvati's and Lavender's, there was also a spare bed on the lone wall. They quickly unpacked their clothes and changes into their pyjamas and crept under the warm covers and snuggled close to the hot water bottle.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hermione awoke at six o'clock in the morning and went down to the common room to find Harry there.

"Hey, what are you doing up so early?" he asked her.

"Couldn't sleep any more. I was so nervous. Why are you up so early?" She asked.

"This is the time I normally get up, weird right?" Harry said.

"No, not really. So, this is Hedwig?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. Do you know what a familiar is? Because I don't" Harry asked.

"A familiar is an animal who has bonded with a magical person. What happens next is unique to the familiar and the human, some people reported that their familiars talked to them." Hermione recited.

"Oh, that explains a lot then." Harry said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Well, I awoke this morning and this voice was singing to me, I asked who it was and she replied that she was Hedwig, I have a familiar." Harry said.

"That's great, Harry. Although many people originally believed that every witch or wizard would have a familiar, it is quite rare." She said and Harry smiled.

"So, do you want to wake the others up so we can talk?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded. They each went up to their own dormitories and gently woke their other friends. In five minutes they were resting on the comfy chairs in front of a blazing fire.

"Right, so we were the four longest students for the hat to decide." Neville decreed.

"Well, not really, the hat told me it had decided as soon as he was placed on my head, but gave me advice." Harry debated.

"Mine too." Hermione said.

"Me as well." Luna agreed

"It did to me also." Neville concurred.

"What we need to agree upon is if it gave us similar advice." Harry said and the other three nodded in agreement.

"So, how do we do that?" Neville asked.

"Maybe we could each write down what the hat said and agree if the same happened?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe we should just talk about what the hat said and if something comes up that is similar, tell that story." Luna suggested.

"That's a good idea, Luna." Hermione said.

"Alright, it is decided, who should go first?" Harry asked.

"Maybe in the order we were last night." Neville suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Luna agreed.

"Okay then, I guess I'm starting?" Hermione asked.

"Go for it." Luna said.

Hermione took a deep breathe, "The hat told me I was very intelligent, brave and ambitious. Then he said that I was 'blessed' by the lady? I don't know who that is."

"I got that too, blessed by the lady." Luna said.

"So did I." Neville agreed.

"So, we were all blessed by this lady. Wonder who she is." Harry concurred.

"He said I was going to be very powerful and then he talked about you lot. He said I wanted to be with you and he said I was very brave. He said he didn't think I belonged in Gryffindor and that any person can be brave. But, he said that Harry and Neville will surely be in that house. He said I am a Gryffindor, and yet I'm not. He then asked me for a choice. I said that I can be smart anywhere and would rather be with my friends. I finished by saying that anyone can be a hero. He told me that I will need those friends of mine in the coming months and years. He told me to listen what you say and that you love me. He also told me that we will be friends for the rest of our lives." Hermione finished.

"Should we finish telling the stories and then concur on what was similar?" Harry asked.

"That's a good idea. Neville, you are up next." Luna agreed.

"He also told me that I had been very brave throughout my lifetime and to face what I have faced. He told me the wand chooses the wizard. I have my father's wand, you see, he told me that it was not a good fit and to buy a new one. He said that once I do, magic will be a lot easier. He told me that I am not a squib and was blessed by the lady herself. He told me that I was very loyal, a good fit for Hufflepuff, but I would fit best in Gryffindor. He said that we will meet new friends in Hufflepuff and that was it." Neville said.

"Okay, similar, I was also told about new friends." Harry said.

"Yeah, it is your turn Luna." Hermione said.

Luna took a deep breath and began, "He told me to keep my new friends close to my heart, and I will need them and can confide in them. He said they have experienced similar things and they understand. He said I was smart and can see what no one else can, this makes me a lot smarter than any Ravenclaw. He said the people in Ravenclaw would bully me because I am different and the best fit would be with my friends. He said you will protect me and that more friends are coming from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and friends that aren't from this school. I was personally blessed by the lady and will be a powerful witch. I was then placed n Gryffindor." Luna said.

"The friend's thing is very similar." Neville agreed.

Hermione nodded in agreement, "Right, Harry, your turn."

"I am destined for a livelihood of brave acts, but any idiot can be brave and heroic, he got that from you Hermione. He told me I would do well in all the houses, I was cunning, ambitious, loyal, and smart. But I may be surprised who is not trustworthy. He told me Dumbledore has no interest in my safety, in fact he wants to kill me so he can kill Voldemort and be heroic. The hat told me Dumbledore felt like that because of a prophecy. I needed to be with the friends I made and can trust Professor McGonagall. I am blessed by the lady and I am more powerful than the average witch or wizards. I am to use this to my advantage, particularly when Clara come to come to Hogwarts. He told me to learn what my father learnt. Get private tuition in potions and start runes and arithmancy early, don't wait for third year. Get lessons in etiquette and look into emancipation." Harry concluded.

"Okay, there are many similarities. Blessed by the lady, apparently we are all smart and going to be powerful. Make new friends from all houses. We all have traits from some, or all of the other houses." Hermione concluded.

"Harry, I can help you with etiquette lessons and emancipation. In fact I am looking into emancipation right now." Neville said.

"We all should probably do etiquette lessons." Hermione said, "I know nothing about etiquette of this world. I know it about the muggle world, but not this world."

"What is emancipation?" Harry asked.

"Emancipation is where you can prove that your parents or guardians are not taking proper care of you. This goes through the courts, it is easier if you get your guardian to sign it, but there are other ways also. Essentially, you don't have to live with them anymore. You also get all your properties and gold earlier than your seventeenth birthday. Wizengamot seats are until you are legally an adult, at seventeen. You can be emancipated at eleven if your parents are dead or severely injured and unable to care for you, and you can prove that your guardians are not taking care of you, hence it would be safer to live on your own. You can also do the same through marriage, but you have to get your guardian's signature to get married before fifteen." Neville concluded.

"Okay, can you help me with that then, it is something I would like to do." Harry said.

"Sure, it's not a problem, Harry." Neville said.

"I am sure there will be signs along the way that we need to look for, we need to be patient with this." Luna concluded.

"Alright, I'll trust you, Luna. That is very big for me, trust, please don't break it." Hermione said.

"I promise I won't Hermione, I trust you also and that is also very new for me." Luna reassured.

"Guys, I think there is something similar between us, a nature of events, or something to force us together to be friends. I think that we should cherish it. Another thing we need to do is learn more about this 'Lady' who blessed us all." Harry said.

"Yeah, I mean, she didn't just bless one or two of us, but all of us. That is rare and unique, we need to find out more about her." Hermione said.

"Agreed." Luna said and Neville nodded his head.

"I have heard about this lady before, Merlin said he was personally blessed by the lady and so were the four founders." Neville said.

"Well, that's a start and I wonder if those people became powerful because they were blessed or was always going to be powerful. The hat said we would become powerful because of this lady, what did she bless us with?" Harry said curiously.

"I don't know Harry, I don't think any of us do, but it's a good question. Should we ask a professor?" Hermione said.

"I don't think so, we don't know them and like the hat said, we don't know who we can fully trust just yet. I think this should stay a secret." Harry answered.

"Thank god, the portraits are still asleep. They are probably Dumbledore's spies in the castle." Luna said, looking at the dull portrait in the room and Harry and Hermione looked St the portraits with fear.

"Okay, from now on when we talk, we have to realise that Dumbledore knows this school, better than probably anyone, we have to be careful. He will probably have the portraits, the ghosts and teachers reporting back to him. Trusting one apart from our group, they may even have set our own classmates against us. The hat told me that Dumbledore wants to murder me for something, we need to be careful and have each other's backs." Harry said and they all nodded in agreement.

Harry and Hermione went to ask the first person that was up when breakfast was.

"Didn't Percy tell you?" The unknown Gryffindor asked.

"No, he told us where our dormitories were and then went to his dorm." Hermione answered.

"Okay. Breakfast starts at 6:00am, not a lot of people are down at the time, it finishes at 10:00am, and classes start at 9:00am, unless you have a free in the morning, which is why breakfast is open later for those that want to sleep in. I'm sorry that he didn't tell you, my name is Emily Taylor, I'm the other fifth year Gryffindor prefect. I am sorry for Percy's, well, stupidness, I am complaining to Professor McGonagall." Emily said.

"Oh no. We're really sorry. We just wanted to know when classes started and when breakfast started. We don't want him to be kicked off the prefects." Harry said.

"I won't give names to Percy, okay. I won't even give year level. I'll just say that several severe complaints came up. It was nice to meet you two, good luck in classes today, oh and just a hint, leave early, you may become lost and they will take points if you are late." Emily said and then went out of the Gryffindor Tower.

"Come on, we should get dressed for the day." Hermione said. It didn't take long for the four of them to get showered and dressed and then they headed down to breakfast. They were the first new students to be down at breakfast and Professor McGonagall came down to them first.

"Harry and Hermione, I talked to prefect Emily Taylor and she said that you stated that Percy just told you where your dorms were and then he walked off. Is this true?" Professor McGonagall said.

"It is, Professor. We didn't want him to get into trouble, we just wanted to know when we had to be down for breakfast and when lessons started, we didn't want to miss them." Harry said.

"It's okay. I just wanted to verify, no prefect should have acted that way. I am glad to see you four having an early start, you should do it regularly. The morning hours are the most productive. Here are your timetables. Good luck for today and welcome to Gryffindor." She said and walked back to the high table. They looked at their timetables.

"Wow, we finish at four, this is going to be a busy year." Neville said. Luckily for the four of them, their timetables were identical, since they were in the same house.

On Monday they started at 9:00am and had Welcome, then Potions with the Slytherins, double DADA with the 'Claws, then lunch, then double charms with the 'claw's again and finished with magical theory. On Tuesday they had double Transfiguration with Ravenclaw, double History of Magic with the Slytherins, then lunch, double DADA with the Ravenclaws and Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. On Wednesday, they had double Potions, Double charms, lunch, Magical Theory, and double Herbology and at Midnight they had double astronomy. On Thursday they had a double free, double Transfiguration, then lunch, then DADA, Transfiguration and Flying lessons. On Friday they had classes on etiquette with the entire first year. History of Magic, Magical Theory and then lunch, then they had Astronomy theory, charms class and a free.

"I'm so excited to start classes." Hermione said excitedly.

"Me too," Luna agreed. The four friends ate their breakfast together and then decided to review their textbooks, so they had some idea of what they were expecting with all their classes today. At 8:40 they decided to head down to where they were expected for their welcome to Hogwarts, after this week this slot would become magical theory.

They found the classroom with the help of a third year Gryffindor who directed the way for them and they were very early, only Professor McGonagall was there, ready to give her speech.

"Alright, Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Luna? Do I have those names correct?" Professor McGonagall asked and they all nodded. "You should always arrive at classes earlier, particularly if you have not been in that room before, this is a very large castle, it is easy to get lost."

"Emily said the same thing." Luna said softly.

Professor McGonagall smiled, and they knew that was rare. "I have a feeling that you four are going to do very well. Now, you are early, so why don't you sit down and wait for the others of your year-level."

They sat and waited and before long other people started filing into the room, chatting with one another, both excited and nervous at the same time. They saw the four students sitting patiently, talking quietly amongst themselves and copied.

"Right then, bang on 9:00. Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name is Professor McGonagall, you would have met me last night, but I didn't get to know names. I am the Head of House for Gryffindor and the Deputy Headmistress. I also teach Transfiguration, which is an immensely complicated matter. I hope you will enjoy your stay here." She started talking about complicated matters of the school, where the classes were for everything in their year level and then was was rudely interrupted by a giant boy with flaming red hair entered the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Mr Weasley, can I help you?" Professor McGonagall said in an icy tone.

"Sorry Miss, I got a bit lost." He replied.

"That is Professor McGonagall to you, young lad, and why did you not arrive with your other dorm mates?" she replied, her tone still cold and icy.

"They had all left when I woke up." He replied.

"Right, what time did you wake up?" the Professor asked.

"Um, 8:45. That was a lot earlier than I normally wake up." He said stupidly.

"And from then did you hurriedly get ready to come to class?" she asked.

"Um, no. I went to have breakfast first." He replied.

"Hermione, what time did you wake up?" the Professor asked.

"6:00, Harry was already up." She replied.

"And what did you do from that time until you came down to breakfast at 7:30?" she asked.

"Um, Harry, Neville, Luna and I talked for a bit, then we decided to get ready and come down to breakfast." Hermione replied.

"What time did you leave breakfast to come to this lesson?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Um, 8:40, we arrived at 8:45, we asked a third year Gryffindor for help." She replied.

"You arrived at this classroom at the same time Ronald Weasley woke up. 10 points from Gryffindor, Mr Weasley, this is your first day, and you should have arrived well before the class started." The Professor said in a harsh tone.

"It wasn't my fault, Percy never told me when breakfast and lessons started. He just went up to his dorm after letting us into Gryffindor Tower." Ron blurted out.

"The only Percy in the whole school, is your brother, Percy Weasley, fifth year prefect, who would have had that job. Are you complaining about your own brother?" she asked, a hint of a smirk on her lips.

"No, no, I wasn't, I just didn't know when it was, that's not his fault is it?" he spluttered.

"Well, yes it is, it was his job to tell you that. I will be having a chat to him later, this was not the first complaint, many year levels have complained. Now, there will be no further talk on this matter. Are we clear? You have already wasted precious time, I will not repeat what I had said before hand." Professor stated.

"Now, onto houses. As I said last night, your house will become like your family. Your prefects would have told you about your house, well, except my house. Gryffindor's I will come to your house after lessons and tell you what you need to know. I will not say the secrets of our house where everyone can hear them. Each of the houses have a full history behind them, and a great many of important figures in society and many unique attributes.

"Now, assignments, you will be getting many assignments for all your classes and most will overlap and at times you will find yourself to be very busy in a large amount of homework. Now, as we are a boarding school, we will not like excuses such as you might use at home. However, we are not cruel or mean, if you fail to hand up an assignment, you will get a certain day that you can re-hand it up and it will be marked. If you hand up an assignment after the final date, it will have deducted marks, 10% for each day, after the tenth day, even if you managed to produce 100%, it will now be 0%, please, please, please, hand your work up on time.

"Now, for those of you that want to do a muggle education as well as a magical education, it is a good idea, it will be very hard and if we think your dropping your grades on either of them, you will not be continuing your muggle education. If you want to apply for this, please see me after this lesson has finished." Professor McGonagall continued talking about the ins and outs of Hogwarts, until it was 9:40.

"Now, for those of you that want to ask a question, or want to enrol in muggle education, please stay behind." She said and the majority of the class walked outside, Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna stayed behind.

"Right, well, I was guessing that Miss Granger would stay behind, but all four of you?" Professor McGonagall said.

"Well Professor, my parents wanted me to be educated in muggle schooling and throughout Hogwarts years too. It was their wish." Neville said.

"It was also my mother's wish that I be educated in that manner, also. The Weasley's always teased me because I was enrolled in Primary School." Luna said.

"I don't know what my parent's wishes were, but I went through Primary School and would like to continue." Harry said.

"My parents and I talked about this, I know it will be hard, doing two different schooling at the same time, but I think I can do it." Hermione said.

"Um, also Professor, I know that it was my parent's wishes that I be privately educated in potions, is this possible?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I know it was your parent's wish, it was also Neville's parents and Luna's. In fact, Lily actually asked if Hermione could do it also. I swore to them all that this could happen. I was close friends with all your parents, except Hermione's. It has already been arranged, your parents, Harry, have already arranged the payment. They also asked if you four could also do Arithmancy and runes earlier than third year, and that has also been arranged. But, we feared that you might find it a bit hard to get used to it, so we decided to start those classes after Christmas. We also revised a timetable, since you are all doing the same thing, you can share this whilst we make some more. Your classes are identical and in many ways, the same as the one you got this morning. There are a few notable changes. A couple of frees are gone, and you start at 8:00 instead of 9:00, you also miss out on a couple of theory classes for your muggle work. This work is handed to you now, and will be handed up in its completion at the end of the year. You potions classes start next week, so you might want to start focusing on your muggle work for now. Unfortunately, the muggle work had to be condensed, you can't do all the subjects you would have liked to, and so you are doing science, maths, English and a choice subject. When you get later in the years you choose, so you can choose from physics and biology and things like that. You are going to be very busy and very tired, please take your time and take it slow. Good luck, I have already informed Professor Snape about your parent's wishes."

At 11:00 they went to their double DADA class with the Ravenclaws and found it to be awful, Professor Quirrell seemed scared of his own topic. They then went down to lunch and studied between bites of their meal. They then went down to double charms, again with the Ravenclaws

This time the class wasn't a disappointment, Professor Flitwick was a tiny man who was Head of House for Ravenclaw. He told them that Charms was mostly theory for a long time, they had to learn how to properly pronounce spell names and appropriately flit your wand in the correct way, and otherwise serious accidents could happen. After the class had finished, Professor Flitwick asked if Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna could stay behind.

"What is it Professor?" Hermione asked once everyone had gone.

"I just want to tell you that I admire your bravery of doing both muggle and magical education, not many do, and in fact no one in Ravenclaw did this year. I also heard from Professor McGonagall that you are starting Runes and Arithmancy after Christmas holidays. So, I know that you will be very busy this year, so I want to offer advice, Before Christmas, focus on your muggle side of work, try to get most of those assignments out of the way, if you do not have enough knowledge to complete harder ones, wait until you have gained that knowledge. I would also recommend history for your fourth subject, it will help you blend into muggle culture if need be. Have fun with this year." Professor Flitwick said.

"Thank you, Professor Flitwick, that was very useful advice, we were thinking about taking history anyway, but it makes us more confident in our choice, knowing that you have recommended it." Hermione said.

"You are very welcome. I will see you on Wednesday. Go on, off to your next class." Professor Flitwick said and the four friends started walking to their history of magic class. They sat in the class and tried their hardest to take accurate notes for their exam at the end of the year, but struggled, even Hermione. Professor Binns talked in a monotone and just rambled on until the bell rang.

"I don't think I will ever learn anything from that class, I can't even pay attention, and we may need to do something about it." Harry said.

"Agreed," Luna said, even Hermione nodded her head.

"How?" Neville asked, "What can we do?"

"Maybe we can get him to cross over to the other side, they must be able to do it somehow." Hermione said.

"Good idea, Hermione, maybe we should read up on the subject. But maybe, we should just pay attention for now, we do have all those other classes we have to attend and do the same year of mundane education." Harry said.

"It's going to take a long time to do all that in one year, we'll be exhausted by the end of it." Hermione stated.

"Unless…" Neville began.

"Unless what, Neville?" Hermione asked.

"There is this aspect of magic that my grandfather and your grandfather invented, they were eventually going to sell it, but they died before they could see the project go to that level." Neville stated.

"Okay, tell us more?" Harry encouraged.

"My grandfather was a pioneer of many things, but he wanted an aspect that your family had created, Harry. The Potter's are well known to have created time turners, these are things that can take you back for a few hours. It is a complex piece of magic and the ministry deemed it too dangerous and confiscated them. Your grandfather, Charlus, only gave them a few that didn't work nearly as well as the others. They experimented with them and couldn't find a way to recreate them, they have about 10 that are low levels. But, your grandfather was a genius, he was looking into time in many more discreet ways that could help us out." Neville rushed through.

"Okay, so are you saying that my grandfather created something to with time that could help us out without exhausting us from this year?" Hermione said and Neville nodded.

"It's complicated and I know my grandfather has many, but I also know that your grandfather had many. They are … complicated to explain. Essentially, you enter through the door and although it may look like a small bag, there is another world inside, the time aspect is even smarter. I think we need to get in them so I can explain to you what I really mean." Neville said.

"Alright, how do we get them?" Harry asked.

"Well, I can ask my grandmother to send mine over, but to get yours, we'll need to have access to Potter Manor. You can get in any time you want, you are keyed to the wards, you can even start living there if you wanted."

"Okay, when should we do this?" Luna asked, "I mean, it's obviously going to take some planning, we can't just leave Hogwarts because we want to get into Harry's manor."

"Luna's right, this will need careful planning. I assume this will change a lot for us and homework?" Hermione stated.

"It most definitely will, I promise that." Neville said.

"Okay, we will plan it, but I have no idea how to get there." Harry said.

"Your parents would have left you something that was a portkey to the mansion." Neville stated, "It might be a piece of jewellery or, something on you, like a scar or freckle."

"Wait, you mean it can be anything?" He asked in shock.

"Pretty much, yeah, mine is a small tattoo, on the inside of my wrist." Neville said.

"Wait, a second, I have a tattoo on the inside of my wrist, I thought it was a birthmark." Harry said.

"Um, that's strange." Hermione said.

"What's strange, Mione?" Harry asked.

"I have a tattoo on the inside of my wrist, also." She said in a small voice.

"Okay, yeah, I have one too." Luna agreed.

"Wow, um, my gran always told me that I just had to press my finger to the tattoo and said where I wanted to go, as long as I was keyed into the wards, and even if there were anti-portkey wards around me." Neville said, obviously confused.

"So, all we have to do one day is press our fingers to the tattoo and say where we want to go. Alright. I get why you three have one, but why do I? I mean, my parents are muggles, we don't have wards." Hermione stated.

"I don't know, Hermione. I guess we'll figure it out." Harry said.

"Well, there is no time debating it now, Professor McGonagall will be having our welcome to Gryffindor speech soon, we should go to our common room," Luna stated.

They quickly rushed to Gryffindor Tower to find that Professor McGonagall had not yet arrived, they didn't have long to wait though, within five minutes she had arrived through the trap door.

"Right, I am sorry if this inconveniences you, but can the rest of the year levels who are not first years or prefects leave the common room and go to your dormitories. Thank you." She yelled over the commotion.

Percy and Emily came down by Professor McGonagall's side, so did the two sixth year prefects, Natalie Downs, and Sean Michaels.

"I have understood that the prefect that delivered the welcome to Gryffindor speech last night did not do so properly. I will deal with that later, but for now, so every first year knows. I am ecstatic to welcome to Gryffindor House, our animal is the lion, as it stands tall and proud against adversary, a truly brave animal. Our colours are red and gold and the lion is often pictured in fight, with its mighty teeth showing. Our common room is a tower, towering over the grounds and the other houses, although we may not have the tools to get to a place, our courage and bravery will guide us there. As you may have noticed, our rooms are well hidden behind the portrait of the fat lady dressed in pink, the password changes every fortnight, check the notice boards for that information.

"Our house may not be the smartest, and it may not be the most ambitious or cunning, it also can lack in loyalty, but the lions that reside here are of the bravest stock, and through your Hogwarts years, you will be tested to show this bravery in all forms. The founder of our great house, is Godric Gryffindor, born over 1000 years ago, decided to create a school with his three other friends, and so the legend was born. Our Godric was a soldier and the bravest of the brave, although, in saying that, it was not only bravery that he wanted his house to include, he wanted his house to be smart, not like a Ravenclaw, but generally smart. He wanted you to be loyal to those who deserved your loyalty and he wanted you to be cunning, but only when it was called for. It is said that the perfect Gryffindor is one who would fit well in every single house. We often focus too much on bravery, what Godric is saying, is sometimes, bravery is not needed.

"But this is what makes our house different, bravery is a common attribute in our house, but we also want the skills from the other houses and many other skills learnt through life and school, we at Hogwarts, hope to teach you those skills. An heir to Godric Gryffindor is a most astounding thing, but the line has been lost, it is unknown if the last descendant had a girl and she carried on the name, it is unknown if the line of Gryffindor has been lost, someday, we hope to find it again.

"The head of House of Gryffindor is Professor McGonagall, she is also the deputy headmistress and is harsh but fair. She is most friendly when you get to know her and is a talented teacher. Somehow our house tends to be show-offs, we do not want that trait, when the time comes and when it is necessary, we shall show our bravery, but to do so all the time is to show-off. I warn you now, this house does not care well for these creatures, and every so often one pops out, and makes the other three houses have a reputation for us. This is not what we want to achieve and I hope you will all listen to this warning.

"Breakfast starts at 6:00am and finished at 10:00 for those with a free and want to sleep in. Classes start strictly at 9'oclock and finish at 5'oclock. Welcome to Gryffindor, in our opinion you have been selected into the best house, although we are being biased, the other three houses also have their good qualities, but the hat chose you for this house because this house was the best fit for you. So, enjoy Hogwarts and the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall finished.


End file.
